


oh memories (where'd you go)

by doctorsorders_deathboy



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Cuddles, Flashbacks, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-06-01 12:27:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6519391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctorsorders_deathboy/pseuds/doctorsorders_deathboy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It really came down to one thing: Nico couldn’t understand how someone could make him so happy and so sad all at the same time.</p><p>Or the one where Will has a habit of bringing out the best parts of Nico’s past.</p>
            </blockquote>





	oh memories (where'd you go)

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a culmination of two prompts from tumblr (thanks to izzyzazzle and the anon who sent them in!) and a headcanon of mine that Will reminds Nico a lot of the happy bits of his past.
> 
> Also: yes the title is from memories by p!atd and yes i’m trash

One thing that Nico di Angelo had put a lot of effort into was his poker face. He’d spent a good bit of time when he was about eleven training himself to not show much emotion. He figured that the more he could close himself off, the better off he’d be. It wasn’t the easiest thing to do, as he’d always been fairly loud. I mean, he talked a _lot_ and whenever he talked, all of his facial features were moving too and his hands would be flailing and his sentences tended to be exclamations rather than statements most of the time. But he worked at it, and now when he had his guard up, it was hard to tell what was going on in his head.

Which was a huge relief considering Will Solace was confusing the fuck out of him.

It really came down to one thing: Nico couldn’t understand how someone could make him so happy and so sad all at the same time. And yeah, Nico had gone through something similar with Percy, but it was like everything with Will was magnified. Whenever Will made Nico happy, the son of Hades just wanted to let go and laugh until he couldn’t breathe, but that went against his rule of not showing too much emotion. And when Will made Nico sad, the younger boy’s chest seized up and he was filled with an urge to just shatter into a million pieces, but that _definitely_ went against his rule.

Will never intentionally made Nico sad, of course, but that only made the entire thing more infuriating for the son of Hades. Because the problem was that Will just kept being so _wonderful_ , and Nico loved him so much, which would then lead to Nico taking long walks, wanting to cry but feeling like he’d run out of tears.

Late in the November after the war with Gaea, Nico found himself helping Will organize the infirmary’s storage closets. Nico took a laundry basket of washed hospital gowns and began folding and stacking them as he sat on a spare cot that had been placed in the back room. Will was taking mortal medicines out of the packages they’d been mailed in and placing the bottles in the appropriate cabinets. They worked in comfortable silence with only the sound of one of Will’s playlists in the background. Nico let a small smile grace his features as he continued folding the gowns, allowing himself to remember helping to clean up after his crazy dress up parties with Bianca. He’d gotten back most of his memories from before the Lotus Casino, but he still avoided thinking about them too much— they usually hurt him more than anything else.

But in the comfortable atmosphere Nico let himself get lost in his thoughts, and was relieved to find that they made him happy. He felt relaxed with the late afternoon sun shining in through the window. That is, until Will’s arms wrapped around him from behind.

“Will, what are you-- _Stop!_ ” Nico was embarrassed to hear himself shriek as Will started to tickle him. “Will, s-stop, right n-now, stop, stop!”

Will was laughing nearly as hard as Nico, not releasing Nico from his grip as he continued tickling him. “Ha! I knew you were ticklish.”

“Will! Please.” Nico’s voice had become no more than a breath due to the fact that he was laughing so hard.

Suddenly, he froze.

_“Bianca!” Nico shrieked, attempting to wiggle out of her arms. “S-stop it!” He giggled hysterically, trying to reach behind himself to tickle Bianca back._

_“Agh, I’ve got you!” she cried, unrelenting._

_Finally, Nico managed to turn himself around enough that his hands could reach Bianca’s stomach. “And now I’ve got you!” he managed to shout through his laughter._

_“No!” Bianca shrieked, falling back and letting go of her little brother._

_Unfortunately for her, Nico wasn’t done yet. He fell back on top of her, continuing to tickle her mercilessly, laughing loudly with a huge smile, showing off his missing front tooth. “Take that!” he exclaimed, shrieking again when she flipped their positions so that she had the advantage._

Will noticed the change in Nico almost immediately. “Nico, are you alright? Gods, I’m sorry, are you okay?”

Nico nodded quickly, trying to refocus on what was going on. “Y-yeah I’m fine.” He cursed himself for stuttering. “Let’s just, um, get back to work then. Dinner will be soon.”

~*~

A few weeks later, Will slept over in Nico’s cabin for a movie night. Nico tried to quell the butterflies in his stomach, repeatedly reminding himself that it was just a fun night with a friend. Naturally, that did absolutely nothing to make him feel any less excited.

“Alright,” Will announced, plopping down onto Nico’s bed with a stack of DVD’s he’d brought. “Which of these looks good to you?”

Nico sat down beside him, looking through the movie selection before shrugging. “I don’t know, which one’s your favorite?”

“Hm,” Will bit his lip, looking through the options. “You’ve seen Star Wars, right?”

Nico shook his head.

“ _What?_ ” Will exclaimed. “Well, we’ve got to fix that. You go put on something warmer and I’ll set up the movie.”

“What do you mean I need to put on something warmer?”

“I mean you’re wearing nothing but a t-shirt and thin pajama pants in December, Nico. You’re going to freeze to death.”

Nico frowned. “I’ll be fine. Besides, all of my sweatshirts are dirty.”

“What do you mean they’re all dirty?” Will asked.

“I mean I’ve been procrastinating doing my laundry. Piss off, Solace.”

Will rolled his eyes. “For the love of the gods. Wear my sweatshirt then,” he said, gesturing to his overnight bag. “I’ll be fine without it since I’m wearing a warm fleece shirt to sleep like a sane person.”

Nico’s heart started to beat a little faster, beyond his control. “Fine, if it’ll get you to shut up.” He walked over to Will’s bag, rummaging around in it and pulling out a bright orange Camp Half-Blood sweatshirt.

“Do you happen to own anything that isn’t freaking fluorescent?” Nico asked, even as he slipped the sweatshirt over his head.

“Colorful and fluorescent aren’t the same thing, di Angelo.”

Nico shook his head, trying to ignore the fact that the sweatshirt smelled just like Will. Once it was pulled down over his head, he frowned at how huge it was on him. The bottom of it nearly went down to his knees and his hands had gotten lost in the sleeves.

Will turned around, having finished putting the DVD in, and burst out laughing. “Look, it fits you perfectly.”

“Shut up. You’re the one who made me wear it in the first place,” Nico grumbled, settling back down on the bed.

Will just smiled. “You know, I bet I could make three sweatshirts for you using just the fabric from that one.”

Nico froze.

_“Bianca!” Nico called out, rushing over to her. “Look!”_

_She turned around and doubled over laughing. “Nico, oh my gosh.”_

_Nico smiled, having successfully gotten his sister to cheer up. He spun around wearing her favorite jacket buttoned up over his own clothes. It was huge on him but it was comfortable and made Bianca happy._

_Bianca hadn’t been smiling as much lately. Neither had Nico’s mom._

_Bianca leaned down and gave Nico a big hug. “You know,” she said. “I bet I could make three jackets for you using just the fabric from that one.”_

Nico shook himself out of his flashback, relieved that Will hadn’t noticed. The son of Apollo settled down on the bed next to Nico, far enough away that their bodies weren’t touching each other at all. He started the movie and Nico got lost in the story.

Nico managed to relax entirely, snuggling down into Will’s sweatshirt and inhaling deeply. At some point he found himself leaning against Will with his head on his shoulder. He snuck a glance at Will some point during the second movie to find Will staring back with what Nico could only describe as adoration in his eyes. Nico blushed, quickly looking away.

By the time they’d finished watching the original trilogy, they were both beyond tired. “I don’t wanna move,” Will whispered into Nico’s hair.

“Then don’t,” Nico mumbled.

That was good enough for Will, as he pulled the blanket up over both of them and settled down to sleep.

Nico smiled, not thinking clearly through his sleepiness, and snuggled closer to Will, inhaling deeply as he rested his face against Will’s soft shirt.

~*~

“Nico!” Hazel exclaimed, grinning through the Iris Message. “How’ve you been?”

Nico smiled back. “I’m okay. You?”

“I’ve been great.” She smiled brightly, making Nico feel a swell of happiness for her. In the days not long after he’d brought her back from the dead, there were multiple times he’d felt guilty. He’d sometimes wondered whether or not bringing her back had been what was best for her. But seeing her now, he knew he’d done the right thing.

“Um, I wanted to ask you something,” Nico said, biting his lip.

“Sure. Is something wrong?”

“Uh, no. Not wrong. Just… weird. Um, d’you think you could tell me about the flashbacks you used to have?”

Hazel frowned. “What about them?”

“I dunno. I guess… What did they feel like?”

“Um,” Hazel thought for a moment, “They were pretty surreal. I mean, you know what I looked like physically when I had them. I just kind of blacked out and had no control over my actual body anymore. Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know. Just curious, I guess.”

Hazel frowned. “Have you brought someone else back?”

Nico shook his head quickly, managing a smile. “No, nothing like that.”

“Have _you_ been having flashbacks?” Hazel asked, looking concerned.

Nico paused for a moment before answering, “Yeah, actually. I think I have.”

Hazel’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. And I mean, I’ve never had them before but… like, if something happens that reminds me of stuff from when I was a kid, I just kind of get transported back there mentally.”

Hazel gave Nico a look of what he thought was pity. “Oh, Nico…”

He shook his head, smiling at her reassuringly. “I’m okay. I promise. I just wanted your input.”

“Okay… If anything gets worse, make sure you get Will involved, okay?”

Nico rolled his eyes. _Gods, not him_. “Yeah, yeah. I will.”

“I’m serious, Nico.”

“I’ll be fine, Hazel. I’ll talk to you some other time.”

Before Hazel had the chance to say anything else, Nico swept his hand through the image, cutting out the connection.

~*~

Nico leaned his back against a tree by the edge of the woods, looking out over the Long Island Sound. He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. This was supposed to get easier every year. It didn’t feel like it did.

“Nico.”

The son of Hades sighed. He wasn’t even surprised. “Hey, Will.”

Will sat down beside him. “I’ll leave if you want me to.”

Nico whipped his head to face him. “Who are you and what did you do to Will Solace?”

Will managed a small laugh. “Very funny. Percy told me what today is. He told me to give you some space if you need it. I understand if you do. I just want you to know that I’m here if you need me.”

Nico smiled at him fondly. “You can stay.” He surprised himself by saying that. But for once, he didn’t want to be alone.

Will smiled at that, but still stayed somber. “How long ago was it?”

“Three years. Three years ago today.”

Will nodded, not saying anything else. He waited until Nico was ready to talk.

“Sometimes I wish I could talk to her one more time. All of the last times I got to see her I was just so angry. I wish I could talk to her one last time and tell her that I’m happy now.”

Will nodded slowly. “She’d be proud of you, you know. I never knew her, but there’s no way she wouldn’t be proud of you now.”

Nico nodded slowly. “It wasn’t fair.” His voice broke. “She was only twelve. I’m older than that now, you know? I’m older than she ever lived to be.”

Will looked out at the sea, his shoulders slumped. “The world can be so ugly sometimes. I guess all you can really do is to try to find the beauty in it.”

Nico’s heart stopped.

_“Bianca, why is Mama crying?” Nico asked, laying his head on his older sister’s lap._

_Bianca smiled down at him, trying not to show her own sadness. “She’s scared for us.”_

_“Why?”_

_Bianca scooped him up into a hug. “She’s worried that the big nasty war is going to hurt us.”_

_“Oh,” Nico said, frowning. “Is it?”_

_Bianca gently rocked him back and forth. “I don’t know, Nico. I don’t know.”_

_Nico closed his eyes. “I don’t know if I like it here in America. The kids here aren’t very nice.”_

_Bianca smiled at him lovingly. “There’s a lot of ugliness out in the world, Nico. But it’s our job to find the beauty in it, hmm? You can do that can’t you?”_

_Nico nodded, smiling up at her. “Yeah, I can do that.”_

Nico burst into tears.

Will scooped him into his arms immediately. “Shh, it’s alright. It’s alright, I’m right here,” he whispered into Nico’s hair as he rubbed his back reassuringly.

Nico’s breaths were shaky. “B-Bianca used to say that to me. About finding the beauty in stuff.”

“Oh, gods, I’m sorry.”

Nico shook his head, managing a short laugh. “No, no, you’re fine. I don’t know. These past few weeks have just been kinda rough. And with today being the anniversary of Bianca’s death, I just… I guess I just need to cry for a bit.”

Will held him close and nodded. “That’s fine. Cry all you need.”

Nico shut his eyes tight and pressed his face to Will’s chest, taking deep breaths. “Thank you. For always being there.”

Will smiled. “Of course.”

~*~

Will came out of Nico’s bathroom wearing his pajamas and laughed. “Hey, I never gave you permission to wear my hoodie this time.”

“I forgot to do my laundry again,” Nico smirked. “Now, come on. I want to see this supposedly terrible prequel trilogy.”

Will just shook his head and settled down next to Nico on the bed. “Maybe I should just let you keep my sweatshirt. It fits you better anyways.”

Nico gave him a playful punch on the arm. “Quick question. Do friends normally share each other’s clothes and cuddle together when they sleep?”

Will smiled. “If they’re close enough, I suppose.”

“Do they normally kiss each other on the lips?”

“Hmm, if they’re really, really close then I don’t see why not.”

“How close do you think we are, Solace?”

Will turned to Nico, pausing before answering. “Really, really close.”

Nico smiled. “Good. I’ve been wanting to do this.” Their lips met and Nico couldn’t have felt more at peace.

**Author's Note:**

> I just really wanted to write a fic where Will and Nico were actually aware that they were into each other and didn’t deny it forever and cause me a million years of angst. Feedback is highly appreciated!
> 
> Come say hi to me on tumblr! (@doctorsorders-deathboy)
> 
> ~*Comments and Kudos make me smile*~
> 
> -Aspen


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